Through her growing up years, the violin always stayed by her side. Even when she was not playing, the sweet memories of the strings lingered. Violinist N Rajam, who will be performing as part of the Parampara Series 2017, National Festival of Music and Dance, feels incomplete without it even after years of playing the instrument. Such is her assiduity towards her art that she hails it in every way she can.
Rajam will be rendering an impromptu Hindustani classical set with her daughter Sangeeta Shankar and grand-daughters Ragini and Nandini Shankar. Ragani is a mechanical engineer and Nandani Shankar is a chartered accountant.
For every word of acknowledgement she has received, she applauds her father who introduced her to music at the age of three. “When you begin devoting time to something that early, it becomes a part of your way of living, more importantly, it becomes who you are,” she says. When she was nine, Rajam played with Bharat Ratna M S Subbulaxshmi, and that moment got sealed in her memory forever. “She also gave many performances on All India Radio later.
In its 21st edition, the three-day show will see such as Raja Radha Reddy and Natya Tarangini students performing Kuchipudi, Purbayan Chatterjee and Rakesh Chaurasia in a sitar and flute jugalbandi, Ustad Rashid Khan and his Indian classical renditions, Rajashree Shirke with a kathak dance piece, and Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha on the dhrupad.
Rajam believes music has disciplined her. To reach that level of regulation, one must make practice their priority. There are no short-cuts and there will never be any easy way of gathering success. The role of a teacher cannot be negated. “It’s only them who can instil strong musical values, not necessarily an institute,” she says sitting upright to drive home the point. September 22-24, at 7 pm, at Kamani Auditorium, 1 Copernicus Marg.